International Women in Engineering Day 2019

International Women in Engineering Day is an international awareness campaign which takes place annually on the 23 June, with the aim to increase the profile of women in the engineering industry. The campaign focuses on some of the amazing career opportunities available to girls in engineering. The day is dedicated to celebrating the outstanding achievements of female engineers across the world, with the hopes of inspiring future generations of talented women to enter the engineering profession.

This year, we are sharing 23 Questions from Edinburgh Napier University's women in engineering - Aisling, Judith, Kate, Lara, Melanie and Tanya - so you can get to know them a little better. Read more below.

Aisling Doyle

Aisling Doyle is a Civil Engineer on Transport Scotland’s graduate career programme. Following the completion of her undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering, Aisling completed her Master’s in Renewable Energy and then her PhD on the topic of ‘Thermal Performance on Electric Vehicles’.

Aisling

Judith Abolle

Dr Judith Abolle is a lecturer in Mechanical Computer Aided Engineering in the School of Engineering and the Built Environment at Edinburgh Napier University. Judith is passionate about women in STEM. She was the first runner up for the Equate Scotland Award 2017, has been a keynote speaker at a Women in Engineering Conference and founded the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) group at Edinburgh Napier University.

Judith

Kate Durkacz

Following her achievement of a Master’s degree in Numerical Analysis from Oxford University, Kate Durkacz worked as a mathematician for an engineering company, before obtaining her PhD in Mathematical Control. Kate is now head of the mathematics team at Edinburgh Napier University, with her goal being to inspire all of her students with a love of mathematics.

Kate

Lara Alshawawreh

After a Master’s in Architectural Technology and Building Performance, Lara was awarded a Jordanian PhD scholarship to study at Edinburgh Napier University. Her research focuses on Architecture of Emergencies in the Middle East, with the aim of proposing transitional shelter design criteria. Lara presented her work in international conferences, and won the best paper award in one of them. Lara also successfully defended her PhD in April 2019 and is hoping to graduate this summer.

Lara

Melanie Robinson

Melanie began studying her PhD in late 2015 after successfully graduating with a First Class Honour’s degree in Architectural Technology. As well as being an active member of multiple university-based committees, Melanie has had a proactive role in supporting women in STEM as an Equate Champion throughout her studies. She also serves as a Business Information Modelling (BIM) content consultant and an occasional lecturer for multidisciplinary undergraduate and postgraduate modules.

Melanie

Tanya Ewing

As well as being an award-winning tech entrepreneur, Dr Tanya Ewing is also well recognised as a successful inventor. Her creation ‘Ewgeco’, a patented, real-time energy monitor won her the ‘British Female Inventor of the Year 2008’, with Ewgeco also voted ‘One of the Most Iconic Inventions of this Century’ by the British Library. Since then, Tanya has continued to invent new products within the engineering industry to save household consumers, whilst picking up many more awards along the way. Tanya is now also the owner and founder of Glaze and Save.

Tanya